To Be Young Again
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: A spell gone wrong turns Regina and Bae into five year olds. How will Rumple and Belle fare taking care of them? (Mostly just little one-shot style moments) Rumple is Regina's father. Definitely AU.
1. Chapter 1

"Daddy!"

Rumple's head turns at the small voice a smile already playing in his face as he wonders what his daughter could have got up to now.

"Papa!" another small voice yells and this time he turns to see both his children running towards him clearly trying to get to him first.

Regina wins skidding to a halt in front of him before presenting a scraped elbow to him, "Look!" she cries, brown curls falling haphazardly around her face - Belle had tried to wrangle them into a ponytail of sorts but alas it did not hold.

He holds her arm gently, "What happened here little one?"

"Bae pushed me" she whines,

"Bae" he says scoldingly.

"She pushed me first" he mumbles scuffing his shoe.

At this he turns back to Regina who's trying to avoid his gaze, "Regina"

"Yes Daddy"

"Did you push him first?"

She chews her lip bouncing nervously on her heels but doesn't answer.

"Regina Mills answer me" at that she gulps before giving me a small nod. He sighs, "Why did you push him?"

"We was playing" she answers with a shrug.

"Playing Tag" her brother explains wiping muddy hands on his t-shirt.

Rumple nods, "Alright, well did you mean to hurt each other?"

Both shake their heads. "Did you say sorry for pushing each other?"

At this Bae raises his head again before turning to his smaller sister, "Sowwy 'Gina" he says extending his hand.

She looks at his hand with a curious tilt of her head before saying "I sowwy too Bae" and hugging him.

Rumple grins at his two hugging children amazed at how quickly they can go from sulking with each other and fighting to affection and acting like utter maniacs so fast. _Ah to be young_ he thinks.

"Daddy can we gets ice-cream pwease?" Regina asks smiling up at him.

"Yeah Papa pwease" Bae adds.

Well with two sets of puppy eyes looking at him how can he say no?

_Okay essentially I had this daydream about a spell accidentally turning Bae and Regina into five year olds (oh and Regina's Rumple's daughter) and Rumple looking after them. (Also for the life of me I couldn't think of a better name, if someone has one please suggest one!) Thanks for reading :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_So I decided to do more of these. Thank you Snapegirlkmf for the title idea and also to nahbois68 for your feedback. This one is the moment they become fun-sized. There'll be more ickle Regina and Bae next chapter. Hope you like it :)_

Neal follows his sister into her mansion with a worried expression, "Are you sure this will work?" he asks nervously.

Regina turns holding the spell book in her hand with a confident smile, "It will work Neal. Stop worrying"

"I'm just saying, magic can be risky"

"I was taught by our father and I've been doing it for years. I'm sure it will be fine"

"You don't have home videos or anything?" he asks. All he wanted was to see what Henry was like as a kid. He was not expecting the suggestion of a magical memory mirror or whatever it was Regina said.

"Some but this will be better" Regina explains with a shrug. "Now come over here" she instructs standing before the mirror. If all goes well she'll enact the spell and the memories of Henry at age 5 will appear upon the glass.

He shuffles over reluctantly, "This won't have any freaky side effects will it? All magic comes with a price and all that?"

"None that's listed here" Regina answers quickly reading over the spell once more, "What price could there be? We're not doing bad magic, we're just looking back at what our son was like"

"You're not filling me with confidence here 'Gina"

"What did I say about the nickname? Now just come over here. It'll be fine. Take my hand" she says proffering her own wrist. He takes it, "Alright what now?"

She mutters an incantation he doesn't understand before blowing a puff of purple smoke from the book and into the mirror. He coughs as the smoke clears and looks into the mirror only to see his own reflection staring back at him. "Regina I don't think it worked" he says before turning to see that his sister looks equally puzzled.

"It should have worked" she says insistently frowning at the spellbook.

Suddenly a plume of purple erupts from the mirror sending glass flying everywhere. Neal has enough time to throw himself over his sister so as to shield her from the glass fragments as the cloud engulfs them.

"What's happening?!" he shouts.

"I don't know" Regina replies frantically flipping through the book to see what she has done. "Oh no" she mutters.

"What do you mean oh no?!" Neal asks worriedly.

She gets not chance to explain as the book falls out of her hands and the purple swirls begin to work their magic.

Rumple's phone rings distracting him from his inventory, silently he thanks the gods since it is a boring task. "Hello Henry" he greets upon seeing the caller ID.

"Hey Grandpa. I'm at Mom's and well I think you better come over here"

"Why Henry? Is everything okay?"

"You just really need to come over" Henry replies insistently.

Panic flares up in the pawnbroker for a moment at his grandson's urgency, "I'll be there in a second" he says quickly flicking the pawn shop's door closed and transporting himself to the mansion.

He hurries in through the front door frowning at the shattered glass in the foyer and the fallen spell book. Cautiously he picks up his old book puzzled when he sees what spell it's open on. "Henry" he calls out.

"Living Room" he follows the direction of the shout and walks towards his daughter's lounge unsure of what he's about to find. He gasps in shock at what he sees as he crosses the threshold. Tears instantly fill his eyes as he comes face to face with his son at age 5 drowning in a shirt he recognises as his adult son's. "Papa!" the little boy wails holding his arms up to be picked up. Without hesitation Rumple does so both perplexed and amazed at seeing his son at this age again. Memories flood his mind as he holds the young child and feels small arms wrap around his neck.

He turns then to Henry and sees a crying girl nestled in his arms. Henry whispers, "That's your Daddy" and a head of dark chocolate curls pokes out from his side as she looks at him nervously before looking to Henry for confirmation. At his nod she scoots cautiously forward clearly still uncertain. Rumple smiles at the shy girl before leaning down and using his other arm to pick her up too. "Regina?" he asks.

She nods looking at Henry once more who gives her a reassuring thumbs-up, "Don't worry. He's going to take care of you now" wide brown eyes look up at Rumple as if to see if it's true. Rumple nods at her once more still slightly overwhelmed at seeing his children at this age, one whom he hasn't seen so small in a long time and the other who he never saw at this age. It's mystifying if not wonderful to get this flash of the past.

Finally he works through the lump in his throat to face his grandson, "What happened?"

Henry shrugs, "I have no idea. I came over because Mom said she'd help me with my science project and found two crying five year olds. Mom's spellbook was on the floor but I don't know what they were trying to do. Can you fix it?"

He wishes he had a clear answer for his grandson but with the changes to magic that have come with the breaking of the curse he no longer has the same grip on his seer abilities. "I can try Henry but it might take me a while"

"Oh" the boy replies looking years longer. He pouts miserably looking at the small toddlers. The sight reminds him so much of the boy in his arms that Rumple feels his heart pang in recognition and a little bit of sadness, "I promise you Henry, I will find a way"

Henry nods, "Okay, do you think I could still hang out with them?" he asks. After Neverland and being separated for so long he wants to see all his parents, connect with all of them, even if they have inadvertently turned themselves pintsize.

Rumple smiles at him, "Of course you can Henry. You know you're always welcome"

"Thanks Grandpa. Do you want me to come with you and help explain it to Belle?"

Oh god Belle. Things between her and Regina aren't exactly good. Admittedly things between himself and both Bae and Regina are only just beginning to work and a lot of that came from Neverland and the aftermath.

He nods wondering how on earth he's going to explain this to his love, let alone convince her to help him take care of them. He looks down at the two sleeping faces on either of his shoulders. _Maybe I'll be lucky and she'll be won over by their adorableness. _

_Snapegirlkmf - I did consider the vengeance idea but I kind of wanted to set this after things had settled down and she and Neal had had the chance to start a relationship with Rumple so i went with Regina trying to show Neal Henry at age 5 and cocking it up spectacularly. Thank you again for the title and review :) _

_Nahbois68 - We shall definitely see how Belle deals with looking after Regina. I'm thinking that will be the next one :) _

_Next part will be up hopefully soon, I'm thinking tomorrow or the day after, I have another update I want to sort out first. Thank you very much for reading :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Took me longer than I thought to get round to this, sorry! Apologies for any mistakes, hope you like it :)_

The two small figures sleep peacefully atop his shoulders as Rumple makes his way over to the library wondering how well Belle will react to this surprise. He has faith in her but still it's one hell of a shock. It still is to him. Were it not for the weight of them in his arms he's not sure he'd believe it. Bae's head lolls in his sleep resting against the man's shoulder pulling him away from his worries and reminding him of better happier times with his young son.

As he gets to the library he reaches his first obstacle: the door. Ordinarily not a problem but with two five year olds using him as a pillow? Not quite so easy. He settles for kicking at the door and yelling "Belle" in the hopes that she is close enough to hear.

Belle startles from inside the door at the banging noise echoing through the library. She recognises Rumple's voice and instantly relaxes though her confusion remains. She pulls open the door mildly fearful that something bad has happened or that he's in trouble.

Rumple smiles as he sees Belle's face, his heart still skipping a beat even after all these years. She smiles at him before stopping dead at seeing the bundles in his arms.

"Rumple" she says worriedly.

"Belle, can I come in?" he asks needing to put the children down. He loves being able to carry them but the muscles in his arms are beginning to burn and strain from the effort. She nods still stunned as he carries them through before gently laying them down on some beanbag style cushions that she brought in for the children's section. He smiles at the sight of his sleeping children. He can't help it. Memories of Bae send him back to another place in time when the young boy would shuffle and fidget in sleep like this before finding a comfortable position. He turns to Regina with a wistful smile, looking at the child he never got to raise. He ruffles both their hair before checking they're still comfortably asleep and rising to face Belle who's staring at the children in absolute shock.

"Rumple, who are they?" she asks, there's a sense of recognition on her face but her mind blocks it telling her what she thinks can't possibly be true.

"They're Bae and Regina"

At that she laughs assuming he must be joking before looking at his serious face and back to the children, her laughter stops turning into a nervous giggle, "Rumple you're joking. Right?"

"Belle, dearie it's not a joke"

"It has to be"

"Belle, please let me explain" she nods and he continues, "It seems that Regina was attempting a spell and it backfired turning them into five year olds"

"And you can't turn them back?" she asks.

"I can but it might take a little while to figure it out"

"So until then they're like that" she mumbles with a pale face before sitting down.

"Yes, I know it's a lot to take in but are you alright?" he asks concernedly leaning down to kneel in front of her.

She laughs wildly, "Oh yeah, the adult children of my true love, one of whom imprisoned me for many years, have turned themselves into little kids. Happens all the time. I'm fine" she blurts out resting her face in her hands.

He laughs back a little nervously, "I know it's an….unusual situation but I will find a way to fix it Belle. It's only temporary" he says looking a little sadly at his now young children.

She smiles at him sympathetically, "You want to keep them like that" she states.

"No, Henry needs them as his parents but maybe a part of me does" he admits feeling guilty over his own selfish desire but he will put his grandson first and find a way to reverse this, he's just going to make sure he relishes every moment he gets with them at this age as well.

"You want us to look after them don't you?" Belle asks following his gaze to the little kids beginning to stir in the corner.

"I do" he replies leaving it at that. He won't ask, she knows he won't, he wants her to but he knows this is difficult for her, that she needs a moment to wrap her head around this situation before she can commit to helping him look after them.

"Who are you?" a small voice asks startling them both. They turn to see the little Regina looking at her, a little confusedly and a little fearfully. Rumple frowns before remembering that at this age she was kept pretty shielded from other people unlike his own son who knew the whole village by now.

"It's alright" he coaxes taking her hand and bringing her forward, "This is Belle"

Belle waves slowly in response unsure what to say to this child who is so drastically unlike the Regina she knows. This girl seems scared of her as she burrows shyly into Rumple's arms and only peeks at her from behind the suit jacket she's clutching.

"Hi" Belle says softly trying to coax the girl out. It's weird. It's awkward. She knows that when he turns them back things between them will probably go back to the tense dysfunction they currently share. And yet she wants to help Rumple with this, to see him with children, to have a try, no matter how brief, at being a mother and caregiver.

The young Bae walks over to them next rubbing his eyes and she recognises him now from the sketches Rumple has of him as a child. "Hello" she greets with a smile. The boy looks to his papa for explanation, "Papa, who this?" he asks.

"This is Belle, she's going to help me look after you" he says the last part looking to Belle for confirmation hoping she'll say yes.

The little boy looks at her before hugging her and saying "Hello" in a small polite voice. She goes rigid initially at the unexpected contact before relaxing and hugging him back. Her eyes raise to meet Rumple's and she nods.

_There will be more with Belle in later chapters as she attempts to deal with looking after them etc. I shall hopefully have more up for you soon. Thanks for reading :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for the reviews so far :) Hope you like it. _

They end up walking back to the house, the children running along in front of them.

"Don't go too far" Rumple calls worriedly as Regina decides to race away from Bae. She stops and skids to a halt before turning to Bae who's running up to her, "But we racing!" she shouts across the street.

Belle laughs, "So she is argumentative as a child too" she shakes her head as the little girl places her hands on her hips looking like a toddler mayor.

"So it would seem" Rumple replies, "Are you sure you'll be alright with this?"

"They're children Rum. Look at them" she says pointing to where Bae is pointing out the cars with wonder to Regina, the pair of them declaring the colours as the vehicles pass the amazed toddlers. "As difficult as things are with their adult selves they are two innocent little kids and they need us"

"I love you" Rumple says warmed by her words.

"I love you too"

"I was just worried, especially because of you and Regina" he says hinting at the past between the two women.

Belle sighs, "I won't say it will be easy because we both know this is a strange experience for us all but Regina and I have been slowly working things out. Even if we weren't I can't hold a grudge against little Regina because she doesn't know. It would be unfair"

He nods, "Do you think they'll be okay?" he asks worriedly. It's been so long since he's looked after young children. Bae knows him but Regina doesn't really. Nor do either of them know Belle.

"They'll be alright Rumple. We'll be there. We'll take care of them. Kids stay away from the road!" she shouts upon seeing them about to step into it.

Two brunette heads look up before sheepishly stepping back on to the path. "Sowwy" Bae says as they approach.

"Me too" Regina adds.

Belle kneels down to their level, "It's alright but do you see those cars?"

"Vroom" Bae says.

"Loud carriages?" Regina asks.

"Yeah, the loud carriages, well they can hurt you if they hit you and we don't want that now do we?"

"Nuh-uh" Regina replies shaking her head. Bae agrees with a shake of his head too.

"Alright" she says before turning to Rumple, "What do we do for clothes?" she asks gesturing to the fact that the children are still swimming in their adult counterpart's shirts.

"I figured I could magic some up" Rumple answers before flicking his wrist in their direction. The children gasp in surprise as their father's pink magic surrounds them before disappearing leaving them in toddler sized clothing.

"Wow!" Bae shouts looking down at the dinosaur on his t-shirt and the shorts he now wears. He sticks a leg up staring at the trainer on his foot in amazement, "Gina look!" he yells brandishing the foot in her direction.

"Wow" she says touching the strange new footwear gently with her finger. "Bae there's a monster on your shirt" she declares pointing to the dinosaur.

"I know" he replies with a grin before yelling "RAWR!" at her and turning his hands into claws mimicking the creature on his top.

The little girl yelps before running behind her father's legs, "Help! Daddy! He gonna get me!" she shouts.

Rumple laughs before swooping Regina up in his arms, "Don't worry, I'll save you from the Bae monster"

"Good, tank you for the clothes" she says softly pointing to her new pink t-shirt and jeans.

"You're welcome little one" he replies as she turns to Belle, "Miss Belle look!" she yells gesturing to the flowers embroidered on blue denim.

"Very pretty" Belle says as Bae, still in dinosaur mode, runs at her legs.

"RAWR!" he shouts, "Gots you Miss Belle" he says with a grin.

She laughs making a play at grabbing her leg in fake pain before lifting the little boy up. Rumple smiles at the sight of his love and his son laughing together. The image stirs up his desire for children with her, he can see looking at her interact with his son that she'd be a good mother. He mentally captures the image of the pair of them wishing he had a camera with him instead. Hopefully they'll be a chance later to eternalise a few of these moments.

"What?" Belle asks having caught him staring at the pair with a far off wistful look on his face.

"Just you look beautiful" he says eventually smiling at her.

She grins back as Bae shifts in her arms to lunge at his little sister who squeals. "Daddy!"

He laughs before sidestepping away.

"Miss Belle, we got to gets them!"

She grins conspiratorially at him before skipping over to Rumple and Regina.

_Thanks for reading :)_


	5. Chapter 5

As both children excitedly explore Rumple's house the adults make dinner. They both look up at the sound of running footsteps.

"Will they be alright up there?" Belle asks worriedly.

Rumple nods remembering how Bae used to run around all the time, not even stopping if he did fall over, "Trust me we'd know if they weren't"

Belle chews her lip anxiously, "I just don't want them to get hurt. They're not used to houses like this"

He smiles before sliding in behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist whilst resting his head on her shoulder, "They'll be fine Belle besides if Regina's anything like Bae was, they'll both be far too excited about running around and exploring to let a quick bump ruin the fun"

"Did he like exploring?" she asks looking up to meet his eyes smiling at the warmth there as he reminisces about his young son.

"Oh yes all the time, if we ever went anywhere even vaguely new he had to go into every nook and cranny available. He was a little nightmare for hiding in places" he replies with a small grin, "One time I was doing a deal with a new farmer and I found him exploring the pig shed"

"Really?"

"Really, by the time I got to him he'd climbed in with them"

Belle laughs, the sound ringing musically through the air, "I can picture that"

"He was a right mess" Rumple still able to clearly picture the sight of the small boy covered in straw and squealing at the pigs in the pen with him. He chuckles remembering how Bae wanted to stay with them and how he had to practically drag him away from the farm animals.

"Daddy!"

They both look up to the sound of yelling from the bottom of the stairs to see Regina struggling to make her way down.

"What's wrong princess?"

"I stuck and Bae's hiding" she explains with a small pout.

"Bae's hiding? Where?" Rumple asks.

She shrugs, "Upstairs"

Belle laughs, "You go find him, come here Regina" she says taking the little girl's hand to help her down the steps.

"Where upstairs?" Rumple asks hoping to get some clue otherwise the small boy could be hiding absolutely anywhere.

Regina frowns her brow furrowing in concentration as she lifts her arms up for Belle to pick her up. She complies swinging her up into her arms as the little girl taps her chin, "Hm I tink he wents to the room with the potty"

"Are you sure?"

"Uhm maybe?"

"Okay, stay with Belle while I go find him"

Regina nods before yelling "Wait!"

"What?"

"Come here" she whispers loudly beckoning him over with her hands. He smiles before walking over to his two girls watching Belle hide a small giggle at the serious expression on the little girl's face. "What?" he whispers conspiratorially.

She leans close to him before whispering, well sort of, "Yous has to be quiet or Bae will hears you"

Rumple nods, "I will, I will be quiet as a mouse"

"A little mouse?"

"A little mouse" he agrees before going up the stairs with a wink at Belle.

Once he disappears out of sight she turns to the little girl in her arms, "Do you want to help me with dinner?"

"Cooking?" Regina asks in wonder.

"Yes"

"I weally gets to help?"

"Of course why not?"

"Mama says that I's not 'sposed to because queens don't cook" she replies glumly.

Belle frowns at the sad tone before balancing the toddler in her arms, "Well do you want to help with the cooking?"

Regina nods.

"Then you can" Belle says with a smile before leading her over to the spaghetti she's about to put on.


	6. Chapter 6

Rumple walks up the stairs quickly poking his head into the bathroom, "Bae" he calls out looking around for a sign of his son. He smiles upon hearing a slight rustle of the shower curtain and a mischievous giggle.

"Mm, no Bae in here, I guess he's hiding somewhere else" Rumple says loudly pretending to walk away.

A mop of brown hair peeks from around the curtain before spotting his father still standing there. He gasps before hiding behind it once more.

Rumple laughs deciding to go along with the game, who knows how long he'll be able to enjoy the ability to do this? He walks around the tiled floor, "Hm no Bae in sight, let's see if he's in the cupboard" he declares pulling open the door quickly. He shuts it carefully, "Nope no Bae in there" he says grinning at the sound of another small giggle from the bathtub.

"Perhaps he's hiding behind this bin" he makes a show of lifting the bin for the small head that peeks out to watch him. "Nope no Bae here"

Rumple stands up and spins in a circle around the room before beginning the song from when they played this many years ago, "No Bae here, no Bae there, I've looked up, I've looked down, from under this cup, to the other side of town, but day or night, no Bae in sight!"

Bae laughs before pulling back the shower curtain with a flourish, "Papa! Bae in here!" he shouts happily raising his arms. Rumple grins at him before swinging him up in his arms, "There you are indeed, how did you get in there?"

"Hiding magic" Bae declares before looking around the room, "Where did Gina go? Does she have hiding magic too?"

Rumple laughs, "No, she's with Belle making dinner"

"Can we go help?"

"Of course we can, save the hiding magic until after dinner though young man"

Bae sighs, "Oh-kay"

Rumple and Bae walk down the stairs to find a spaghetti covered Belle trying to mop the ceiling. "Uh-oh Miss Belle they came down alweady!" Regina hisses from the floor.

She looks up blushing sheepishly, "Uh hi Rumple" she says quietly while pulling a string of spaghetti from her hair.

"So what happened here?" Rumple asks trying to suppress a laugh at the two pasta covered people in front of him.

"We was making pasghetti!" Regina shouts running at him with sauce covered hands. He stops placing his hand gently on her head, "Hey watch the trousers"

She looks up at him before staring at his suit trousers, "Why?"

"Because they are very expensive and I don't want sauce all over them cheeky monkey" he replies ruffling her hair and setting her on the floor. Bae laughs, "You is a cheeky monkey Gina"

"I'll get you Bae" Regina warns brandishing her now red hands.

"No!" he shrieks before running off, her quickly chasing after him. Rumple laughs, "Watch the furniture!" he yells already fearing the sauce stains that his furniture might endure. He shakes his head smiling at the yelling and running children and walking over to Belle.

He chuckles as she continues to pull spaghetti out of her hair, "Oh don't come over to the floor, Regina was playing with the sauce"

He raises an eyebrow, "What happened?"

"Well Gina wanted to help me with dinner and I said okay. Then I was stirring the sauce and the pan kind of tipped and went all over the floor. Don't worry I didn't let her play with it until it got cold."

"And the spaghetti"

"Well once the sauce went down Regina kind of thought we were playing a game and so threw a stray bit of spaghetti at me and I may have retaliated. And well this happened"

"So essentially you had a food fight with my five year old daughter?"

Her cheeks turn scarlet, "Maybe" she answers quietly.

"Aw" he says teasingly before kissing her on the cheek, "If it helps I think your hair looks very nice"

"Rumple" she says giving him a playful shove before leaning up to kiss him properly.

"Sorry Belle, tell you what why don't you go have a shower while I clean this up and make some more dinner?"

She nods, "Regina will need a bath as well"

"Good idea, protect my furniture"

_Thank you for reading and happy holidays guys!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks for the reviews and support of the fic so far, apologies for any mistakes, hope you like it :)_

As Rumple finishes wiping the tile clean of red sauce Bae wanders up to him, "What you doing?" he asks.

"Cleaning up" Rumple answers smiling at his son.

"Why?" Ah the dreaded question. The word he heard easily a hundred times a week when Bae was a young child.

"Because Regina and Belle made a mess"

"Why?"

"They're silly"

Bae laughs, "They is silly cheeky monkeys" he declares.

Rumple chuckles, "That they are, speaking of, where is your sister?"

"She hiding"

"Why?"

"She fell on the chair and it went all red and then she ran hid under the table" Bae explains with a confused shrug and Rumple's heart drops in his chest. _Cora_ he thinks with an angered and guilty sigh knowing that he could have saved her from such a life. He looks to his son, "Bae go watch some cartoons for me while I get your sister"

"But I wanna help"

"I know Bae but I need you to go watch cartoons and let me find her"

"Aw" Bae whines as Rumple leads him into the living room. His pouting frown disappears when his father puts on the mysterious box and pictures come to life on the screen of a mouse and a cat chasing each other. He gasps before laughing at the animation. Rumple smiles at his innocence and youthful enjoyment of the show whilst he walks out into the dining room to find his daughter.

"Regina" he calls out softly as he kneels down beside the table.

His only response is a sniff as the little girl lifts her head up and scoots backwards. He frowns knowing the life his daughter has memories of and the life she'll experience after this age. "Regina come out"

She shakes her head.

He sighs sadly, "Well if you won't come out can I come in?"

She looks up at him, confusion painting her young features before she nods. He smiles before scooting under the table and just about squeezing in next to the toddler. "Bae told me about the chair"

"Oh" she says quietly "I's weally sowwy. I didn't mean it and I sorry" she says quickly as more tears roll down her cheeks.

"Hey now dearie" he says pulling the girl into a hug, "It's alright, it was an accident and you apologised so it's all okay now"

She looks up at him, "You're not going to punish me?" she asks quietly. Her fearful tone is enough to tell him what she was expecting to happen.

"No" he answers, "I will never hurt you" _not again_ _at least_ he thinks. He knows he caused her pain in the past, he knows that in this girl's future this will become a lie but he also knows that for his grown up daughter it will be true, that he would never hurt her again.

"Pwomise?" she asks hopefully.

"I promise dearie" he replies and the little girl wraps her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He smiles sadly patting her back to try and comfort her, "It's all alright now Regina" he says before easing them out from under the table.

Belle pads down clad in a robe as they slide slowly out into the dining room. He looks up at her and she recognises the sadness in his eyes immediately and joins them on the floor kneeling down beside them, "Is everything okay?"

"I'll explain later" he says as Regina nestles into his shoulder.

She smiles sadly, "Bae is still watching Tom and Jerry. He says it's the bestest thing ever"

Rumple chuckles then, "Really?"

Regina looks up, "Who's Tom and Jerry?"

"It's a cartoon honey" Belle answers rubbing away some of the child's leftover tears with her thumb.

"Can I go watch?" she asks excitedly.

"You need a bath first" Rumple says pointing to her still sauce covered face.

"Aw" she whines.

"You can watch some cartoons later, I bet we can find a rubber duck for you to play with in the bath" Belle says as Rumple hands Regina to her.

"A rubber duck?" she asks excitedly as Rumple quickly magics up some and hands them over to Belle.

"I'll go check on Bae and start dinner"

_Thanks for reading :)_


	8. Chapter 8

Belle is glad she decided to save changing until after giving Regina her bath because it turns out the little girl likes to splash.

"Regina hold still" she says as Regina makes the rubber ducks fight each other and fly out of the tub.

"Belle you play the baddy duck and I play the goody duck"

"Why?"

"Cos we're playing" the little girl answers with all the imperiousness a five year old can manage.

Belle smiles, "How about we make a deal? You let me clean your face and then we can play"

Regina sucks in her bottom lip as she thinks that over, "And you'll be the baddy duck?"

"I'll be the baddy duck" she promises.

The little girl claps her hands excitedly and giggles as soap suds fly into the air at the motion before sitting still and letting Belle wipe the sauce from her face. Once she's suitably cleaned up she grabs the yellow duck and hands it to Belle, "This one's the baddy duck" she says and then grabs the purple duck for herself, "And this one's the goody duck?"

"Why is this one the goody duck?" Belle asks.

"Uhm because I like purple and I don't like yellow" she says before bashing her duck against Belle's sending more soap suds and water onto the floor and over Belle.

"Fair enough" Belle says before hitting her duck against Regina's before they engage in what can only be called a duck and soap bubble war resulting in a soaking wet floor and Regina jumping up and down in the puddle whilst shouting that her duck is the winner.

Belle laughs as the excited girl splashes in the puddle of soapy water in the floor as she holds out a towel, "Regina come on and get dry so we can get you changed"

"But this is more fun" Regina argues trying to spill more water on the floor.

"I know but if we get dressed and go downstairs we can go watch cartoons" she says in an attempt to convince the stubborn child into putting a freshly conjured set of pyjamas on.

"With Bae and Daddy?"

"With Bae and Daddy"

"Okay" Regina says cheerily before skipping over to Belle and getting dried off and slipping on the pink Little Mermaid pyjamas laid out for her. "Look Miss Belle mermaids" she says with a grin pointing to the picture on her pyjama top.

Belle smiles before tousling damp curls, "Yeah we'll have to watch that later"

"Is it a cartoon as well?"

"It's a long cartoon called a movie" Belle explains attempting to run a brush through unruly curls.

"A movie? Can we watch it now?"

"Maybe over dinner"

They go downstairs to see Rumple and Bae setting down plates of fresh pasta, "Daddy, Miss Belle says we can watch mermaids over dinner!" Regina calls out from the bottom of the stairs as Belle sets her down on the ground.

"She said what?" Rumple asks.

"I may have said she could watch The Little Mermaid over dinner"

"Belle, a Disney movie?"

"Well after the pyjamas and well you didn't see her face Rumple" Belle says in her defence.

He sighs, "Belle, you must work up an immunity to the face"

"I can't. Not after the duck fight. Besides it's just one little movie Rumple, what could it hurt?"

"You really have no idea" Rumple says shuddering at the thought of an onslaught of Disney.

Four hours later after they've all had some pasta and watched The Little Mermaid twice the children are fast asleep on the settee.

"Does this mean we can turn this off now?" Rumple asks as the film plays on in the background.

"No I want to see how it ends" Belle says as Regina snuggles into her side while she sleeps.

"Belle this is the third time we've seen it today" he replies smiling at the sight of his dozing children sleeping so peacefully. He grabs a blanket covering them all up before sitting back down on the sofa. He places a kiss on each of the kid's heads before whispering "Good night, sleep tight", an old bedtime ritual from many years ago.

He leans up and kisses Belle as well, "I love you"

"I love you too Rumple"

He smiles and sits back down this time sliding in next to her as she chuckles to herself. "What?" he asks.

"You kissed de girl" she says with a grin before leaning up to kiss him once more and settling in his arms, "Now ssh I love this part"

"Third time tonight"

"Hey I didn't see all of it, I was playing"

"Well you do make a wonderful baddy duck dearie"

_I felt some fluff was needed after the last chapter. Thanks for reading :)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks for the reviews so far. Hope you enjoy :)_

"Miss Belle" Regina whispers as she tugs on the woman's sleeve. Belle mumbles something incoherent but remains asleep against Rumple. "Miss Belle" Regina tries again this time more urgently as wind makes the trees rap against the living room window making her jump.

"Miss Belle" she says a little louder hugging herself round Belle's arm. "Pwease wake up"

"Gina?" Bae asks having been woken by his sister, "You awake too?"

"Yeah" she whispers, "This house is scawy"

He nods in agreement as he looks around the dark room, "Daddy not awake?"

She shakes her head, "I couldn't gets him to wake up"

He frowns before toddling over to her and tugging on his father's leg, when he stays awake Gina pouts at him, "See. He stay asleep"

"Oh" he says fearfully before clambering up to join his sister on the chair. He struggles to hoist himself up onto the seat until Regina crawls over and helps pull him up. "There you go" she says with a small smile.

"Tank you" Bae says before hugging her.

"Bae? Regina?" Belle asks sleepily having been awoken by the sound of small whispers and them tugging at her arm.

"Miss Belle!" Bae says happily upon seeing her wake up. Regina in turn hides shyly behind him.

"What's going on here?" she asks searching out a clock. 2 am. Way too early to be up.

"Gina and I woked up cos we were scared"

"Oh" she says softly, "Did you have a nightmare?" she asks before scooping up first Bae and then Regina into a hug.

"Yeah" Regina replies, "This house is scawy"

"It's weally weally big and dark" Bae adds as they both snuggle into either side of her.

"I know" Belle agrees, "When I first came here I thought it was really scary too"

"You did?" Regina asks with wide eyes.

"I did" Belle says with a nod remembering her first night in this house and how strange she found it all. What helped was knowing that Rumple was just down the hall, that no matter how odd or scary she found it she was safe. "But it's not as scary as it seems"

"Weally?" Bae asks still nervous in the pitch black house. Belle notices it and leans over to one of the lamps switching it on to give a little light to the room.

"Really because your Daddy protects this house" she says in a reassuring tone.

"How?" Regina asks looking over to her sleeping father.

"Well your Daddy has magic and he wanted to make sure this house was nice and safe for his family, which is you two munchkins" she says poking them both on the nose "and so he performed a spell that would protect the house from any danger"

"Why is it so big?" Bae asks.

"To scare away any monsters"

"Why was it so dark?" Regina asks.

"Because it's time to sleep"

"But if it's too dark then the monsters know where to find the house and then they come and they gobble you up and then you get eaten for monster tea" Regina explains.

"Oh well I happen to be good friends with the lights here Regina and don't worry they won't let any monsters in"

"You pwomise?"

"I promise, now will you guys go back to sleep?"

"Can you tell us a story?" Bae asks.

"I could" Belle says in a fake indifferent tone.

"Pwease" Bae and Regina ask looking up at her with matching puppy pouts. She smiles before hugging them both tight to her, "Okay a story it is"

She pauses for a moment wondering what story to tell before looking at a still dozing Rumple and smiling to herself, "Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a far-away land. All her life she buried herself in books and dreamed of love only she never found it until one day a beast came to her castle…"

_Thanks for reading :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you all for the reviews so far and to nahbois68 who inspired this part. Hope you like it :)_

Rumple pores over his magic books with a frown. He promised Henry he would find a way to turn them back but it's more difficult than it seems. He reads over the spell Regina cast once more, _she couldn't have picked a simple spell, no that would have been too easy_ he thinks. He could take him days to reverse this kind of magic. Secretly he doesn't mind, it's been a wonderful experience to be able to see his children at this age. He knows he could keep them this way if he truly wanted but that would be selfish and he can't do that. A few years ago he might have done, but he's trying his best for Belle and for his family. He knows neither Regina nor Bae would want to stay stuck this age and that it would be unfair to Henry to give into his own desires. _When this is over I must talk to Belle about how she feels about children_. He grabs a notepad and quickly jots down the ingredients he'll need. As he taps the pen to his chin he hears a shout of "Daddy yous in here!" before Regina wraps herself around his leg. Rumple grins knowing he may as well enjoy having his children this age while he can. He drops the pad and swoops the affectionate little girl up into his arms, "Hello princess"

"Daddy can you come play with me?" she asks in a pleading voice.

"I'm a little busy sweetheart"

"Pwease" she says putting her hands together, "I wanna have a tea party and you need to be there" she adds insistently.

"I need to be there do I?" Rumple asks.

"Yep because you is Daddy and so you hafta come"

He smiles at her childish logic before sighing. He should really be going to work but he doesn't want to waste any of the time he has with her at this age. After all he never saw her childhood and while he can, he wants her to have some good memories with him and Belle and if that means a tea party then he shall attend a tea party. "Well I suppose I best come to the tea party"

"Yay!" she squeals before clambering off his lap and tugging on his arm, "Come on now you hafta get ready"

"Get ready?" he questions.

"Uh-uh, you not dressed for a tea party" Regina explains excitedly as she drags him along after him.

Rumple allows himself to be tugged upstairs and bursts into laughter at seeing his son wearing a plastic crown and dressing teddy bears up as knights and Belle with a bright pink tiara and a candy necklace. At the sound of his snickering she fixes him with a glare, "She found that dress up box in your attic"

"You look lovely dearie" he says as he tries to suppress a giggle.

"Daddy your turn" Regina says holding up a sparkly feather boa and a purple wizard's hat. He looks down at them in horror, "Regina do I have to wear these?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"'Cause it's a tea party and you hafta dress up" she says in a slightly whiny voice.

He kneels down recognising the tone as the one toddlers use before they start to cry about something, "Alright princess" he agrees and she breaks out into a bright beaming smile as she drapes the boa around his neck and places the hat on his head, "Now you reading" she says happily before running over to the little table she's set up complete with a toy tea set and pulling out a chair for him.

She places a sparkly crown atop her own hair before picking up the teapot, "Tea Daddy?"

"Yes please Princess Regina"

She smiles before "pouring" him a cup. "Prince Bae?"

"Pwease Gina" he says holding up his own cup.

"And now Princess Miss Mama Belle" Regina announces and Belle smiles softly at the title before looking to Rumple with watery eyes.

Once she's poured out cups of tea to the people and teddy bears assembled around the table Regina raises her cup in the air and looks at them all, "You hafta clink them" she instructs.

Belle smiles knocking her cup against Bae's and Regina's before turning to Rumple, "Cheers" she says.

He grins looking round the table at his two kids pretending to drink their tea before back to her, "Cheers"

_Thank you for reading :)_


End file.
